Posted
by
kdawsonon Monday August 03, 2009 @07:13PM
from the almost-as-ironic-as-disappearing-1984 dept.

James Grimmelmann performed an experiment using the AP's form to request a license to use more than four consecutive words from one of their articles. Except that he didn't paste in words from the (randomly chosen) article, but instead used 26 words written by Thomas Jefferson 196 years ago: If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea. The AP cheerfully charged him $12 to use Jefferson's 26 words. Both Boing Boing and TechDirt have picked up the story so far. Grimmelmann adds an update to his blog: the AP has rescinded his license to Jefferson's words and issued a refund for his $12. They did not exhibit the grace to admit that their software is brain-dead.

I'm writing a computer program that will figure out every word combination that can possibly be used to form a sentence, and then copyrighting the output. When someone writes something somewhere, I'll sue them for copyright infringement.

Don't even think about stealing this idea. I have it patent pending on it!

if you are correctly positioned as a trusted supplier, there are cases when you can get paid for delivering no product at all, but merely for carrying out the ritual of delivering a product, with all the paperwork thereunto appertaining.

I've known folks whose workplaces used to pay Sun a license fee for Perl... the same Perl you could download for free (as in beer); and yes, the same Perl that is one of the usual examples of successful free (as in speech) software.

No, they didn't get tech support. They didn't get to file bugs against Perl that would be resolved by a Sun engineer. They didn't even get a custom build of Perl optimized for their Sun hardware. They didn't even get a CD. What they got was an invoice... precisely what their company's IT procurement process required...

Yeah, I noticed SQLite allows for the option of purchasing a license, even though it is public domain, for that exact reason - when someone who doesn't get it above you makes you buy a license. Then they charge $1000. Heh.

Which makes me wonder... if it is in the public domain, couldn't anyone sell a license for it? And if that's the case, couldn't *I* sell a license for it, for cheaper? I could sell SQLite licenses for a mere $500!

what if you buy a quotation that is itself quoting another AP article? Do you have to pay twice? What if the article is quoting itself? An infinite loop of profitability! Finally online content has a sustainable business model.

Yes, taking the piles of money that people leave on my doorstep is taking advantage.

The guy is knowingly paying the AP for something free. They're not taking advantage of him. And even if someone was legitimately stupid enough to pay the AP for Thomas Jefferson's material, it's not their fault. Should I erect a fence around my doorstep so people don't leave piles of money?

I like parent post's concept, but suggest that slashdotters with a little extra pocket change license some RIAA protected lyrics from AP. Then public inform the RIAA and see if we can incite a game of "Let's You And Him Fight".

They just might be stupid enough to actually go for this one. Of course with the way things seem to work in the world one would eventually win and entirely consume the other. The RIAAAP would then probably sue everyone for copyrights on letters, numbers and bits.